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Exploring the use of zircon geochronology as an indicator of Laurentide Ice Sheet till provenance, Indiana, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2017

Christine M. Kassab ,
Samantha L. Brickles ,
Kathy J. Licht  and
G. William Monaghan
Christine M. Kassab*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 723 W Michigan St, SL118, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, USA
Samantha L. Brickles
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 723 W Michigan St, SL118, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, USA
Kathy J. Licht
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 723 W Michigan St, SL118, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, USA
G. William Monaghan
Affiliation:
Indiana Geological Survey, 611 N. Walnut Grove, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA
*
*Corresponding author at: Department of Earth Sciences, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 723 W Michigan St, SL118, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, USA. E-mail address: ckassab@iupui.edu (C. Kassab).
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Abstract

A pilot study was designed to evaluate the potential of zircon geochronology as a provenance indicator of till from the Lake Michigan, Saginaw, and Huron-Erie Lobes of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Based on existing ice flow-path models, we hypothesized that till from each lobe would have different zircon age population distributions because the lobes originated from regions of the Canadian Shield with different bedrock ages. After correcting for zircon fertility, the majority of grains in all till samples are 1600–950 Ma, with ~30 % of ages >2500 Ma. This similarity means that till from the three lobes cannot be clearly differentiated based on their zircon populations. The dominant ages found and the homogeneity of distributions in the till indicates a non-Shield source and, instead, reflect an origin from some combination of underlying till and sedimentary bedrock in the Great Lakes region. Even though the datasets are small, the tills have similarities to zircon distributions in Michigan Basin rocks. This implies that a substantial fraction of zircon in till was not transported long distances from the Canadian Shield. Although zircon ages are not distinct between tills, the method provides a novel application to understand Laurentide Ice Sheet glacial erosion and transport.

Keywords

U-Pb geochronologyLaurentideIce sheetGlacial tillProvenance
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 88 , Issue 3 , November 2017 , pp. 525 - 536
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2017 

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